Love Friday Mornings

I have Friday mornings off- I love the time I get to spend with my toddler.

She's been "reading" on the bed while I pick up. Now she's sorting her alphabet cards. She said, "two O's" noticing that there were 2 of the same letter on each card. These moments are so fun to be apart of.

What literacy moment tickled you this week?

RtI for ELLs

Today my colleague (thanks Sarah!) introduced me to these short videos available through the RtI Action Network.

I love these videos because Janette Klinger addresses many of the issues our school is currently dealing with. Our school is 95%+ ELL, so implementing RtI, teaching all students in the general ed classrooms, and qualifying and identifying ELL students for Special Ed look should be tweaked accordingly to support our population.

Klinger voices many of the concerns I had going into RtI implementation at our school. Like she mentions, many teachers have a hard time distinguishing between students in the process of language acquisition and students with learning disabilities. It takes training to be able to tease out the underlying issues that is affecting student performance.

Check out out these videos:

Janette Klingner: Realizing the Potential of RTI: Considerations When Implementing RTI with English Language Learners


Janette Klingner: Response to Intervention With English Language Learners


If you're a teacher, how do you differentiate your lessons to support your ELL students?

I'm Linking up at Learning all the Time!

Be Well Read On!

School's Out For Summer!

It's about time, don't you think? I thought a little vacay was never going to come.

Due to the overload of the events this week (and the great weather here in the Bay Area) I have completely s-l-a-c-k-e-d in the blogging department. I had high hopes of maintaining a schedule and blogging daily. While I LOVE that idea in theory, I really don't think it's manageable. But, I'm here now. I'll try to be consistent. And away we go....

I really enjoyed being at school today. We had to say goodbye to our rising 5th graders and dedicated staff that have been with us for a while. Transition is hard, and it feels like we've been a school in constant flux for the past 3 years. In the face of unwanted change and hard financial times our school did a great job of appreciating folks for a job well done. It was lovely to have a day celebrating all of our hard work over the course of this year.

my summer garden, ahhhhh i love sweet peas



So what does the summer hold for me?

Reading Tutoring: Two of my reading intervention students are going going to come over to my place for a couple of 1/2 days each week during the summer for reading help. I want it to be very low key, and my main goal is to get them hooked into the joy of reading. They are best buds and will be in 5th grade next year. We're going to take trips to the library, do fun projects related to their reading, I'll do read alouds, and perhaps read in the park; there's endless possibilities, I know it's going to be great! I know I'm going to be scouring the blogosphere for project ideas. But I'd love any feedback or ideas any of you have!! Share your ideas in the comments section below. 

Travel: My hubby and I (also a teacher) are going to spend a week on Lake Michigan with his family (lots of g-parent and cousin time!) and then we'll also take a road trip to Zion National Park.

Syllabus Writing: My husband and I are co-teaching a 6-unit Lit Assessment and Lit Development course for an online teacher ed program this fall through the collaborative effort of Aspire Public Schools and the University of the Pacific. We need to craft a mighty fine syllabus. I'm looking forward to this (I really enjoyed teaching the class last semester), but it's going to be a plateful. What do you wish you knew before you started teaching? If you have any tips, share in the comments below. I'm excited about our main text, Teaching Reading in the 21st Century by Michael Graves.

RtI (Response to Intervention) Planning Time: I have a couple of stipended days on my schedule so far. With a team of people from school, we're hope to refine the SST and RtI process at our school. Good times!

Hopefully summer will be filled with a lot of moments like this!!!

R&R: I hope I'll have lots of reading, blogging, and craft time! And of course, lots and lots of time with my family!!!

What do you love about summer?

Be Well! Read On!

p.s. This post was also brought to you by the help of my husband, who is graciously prepping dinner solo so I could get my blog on. Woot woot for awesome husbands everywhere!

Oakland Locals: Fairyland is a Must See!

I can't resist sharing about my family's recent trip to Children's Fairyland in Oakland, California. I live nearby and have known about Fairyland for a long while, but just visited for the first time last week; I instantly became smitten. Fairyland is directly off of Lake Merritt, near downtown Oakland.

The park opened about 60 years ago- and everything at the park does harken back to that era. But it is simply a wonderful place for toddlers and preschoolers to come and interact with storybook scenes and characters. I loved the idea of it so much that I bought a membership before I set foot into the park. My toddler loved as well (everything is her size!), and I look forward to many mornings exploring the different attractions.

Those of you looking for thrills and chills- stay away! Your 2-7 year old will enjoy Fairyland. It's simplistic- with play and stories at the forefront. As you may has guessed, I love that Fairyland has a focus on childhood literacy, in addition to play and creativity. Isn't that what being a kid is supposed to be about?

From Fairyland's Website:

Children’s Fairyland is much more than amusement park. Since our beginnings, we’ve been a place where stories come to life, where reading is celebrated, and where childhood literacy for the whole community is our goal.

Stroll through Fairyland and you’ll see the ways in which we put our commitment into action:

• Our Reading Room is a cozy storybook hut filled with books for readers of all ages—from colorful picture books to children’s magazines to chapter books.
• The Marilynn O’Hare Art Center, open on weekends, invites children to express themselves with crayons, clay, paint, and other art materials. 
• A field trip to Fairyland can enhance your teaching curriculum while giving kids a memorable day away from the classroom, in a beautiful park on the shores of Lake Merritt.

Favorite childhood stories come to life in the nearly 40 storybook sets throughout Fairyland. The Three Little Pigs’ three little houses, Humpty Dumpty’s wall, Pinocchio’s castle—stroll through our park (or run through, if you’re a child) and discover them all.

The original storybook sets were designed by local architect William Russell Everitt, whose whimsical creations featured wildly off-kilter walls, bright colors, and—most important—child-size proportions. In the more than 55 years since we opened, we’ve gradually added and remodeled many sets, but always in the original spirit.Puppets have been used to tell stories to children and adults for thousands of years. Fairyland’s Storybook Puppet Theater isn’t quite that old, but we’re proud that it’s the oldest continuously operating puppet theater in the United States.

Since we first parted the curtains in 1956, we’ve presented hundreds of delightful and wondrous tales through the magic of puppetry. Some of the Bay Area’s—and the country’s—most gifted puppeteers have worked backstage at the puppet theater: Luman Coad, Frank and Dorothy Hayward, Tony Urbano, and Mike and Frances Oznowicz. As a teenager, Frank Oznowicz—later and better known as Frank Oz—helped his parents prepare puppet shows after school and on weekends; later, he built on that experience to help create the Muppets and to direct feature films.

And so our morning begins:

Entrance to Fairyland (The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe):

There are a few animals. But they are not for petting. However, my daughter did spend 15+ minutes sitting on a rail, watching the donkeys (at the Pinocchio attraction):

Pinocchio's House:

Jolly Trolley:

Just-right doorways for toddlers (mine pictured):

There are story book boxes throughout the park. You put in a Fairyland Key (one time fee of $2) to listen to the story that corresponds to the attraction. Surprise, surprise I LOVE that they have this! What a great way to promote literacy! BTW- this "big girl" (a total stranger to us), was not to thrilled to have a toddler pecking at her heels.

Alice and Wonderland's Maze of Cards:

Wild West Junction. Kids (only) can climb inside of these structures. Great for preschoolers on up:

Aesop's Playhouse for Children's Theater:

Willie the Whale. Kids (best for kids 3+) can climb inside the Whale's mouth:

The park is trying to bring things somewhat up to date by adding attractions such as, The Woman Who Outshone the Sun:

Mary Mary, Quite Contrary:

I'm getting excited just writing this post! There is so much we didn't get to explore on our first trip: the puppet theater, the Alice and Wonderland tunnel, the musical tunnel, the reading room, the chapel, etc... Good thing we got a membership! I look forward to reading these stories with my daughter, and helping her  make connections with what she read and what she's experiencing when she visits the park.



Be Well! Read On! And if you're local, and have a young child around, go visit Fairyland!

Professional Bookshelf: The Reading Teacher's Book of Lists

I thought I would recommend some of my favorite professional books to you all- either books that I have greatly affected my practice and teaching philosophy, or books that I use a whole heck of a lot. This book, The Reading Teacher's Book of Lists 5th Edition by Fry and Kress, gets used quite a bit. And I'm always looking for chances to use it more often! This book is a must-have for every teacher, and parents- you may really find it useful too!

From the Back Cover

Written for anyone who teaches reading, The Reading Teacher's Book of Lists is the thoroughly revised edition of the best-selling foundational reading reference book. This classic resource is filled with 218 up-to-date lists teachers can use to develop instructional materials and plan lessons that might otherwise take years and much effort to acquire. The book is organized into eighteen sections that are brimming with practical examples, key words, teaching ideas, and activities that can be used as is or adapted to meet the students' needs. The lists are designed to be photocopied as needed for individual, small group or large group use. This revised fifth edition contains a complete overhaul of teaching methods sections and includes new sections on electronic resources, new literacies, building fluency, and reading in content areas. The Reading Teacher's Book of Lists covers eighteen sections:

The red comments are specific lists from each section that I like to use the most.

• Phonics
• Vowel Sounds, Suggested Phonics Teaching Order, Phonics Example Words [awesome!], Phonetically Irregular Words, Syllabication Rules
• Useful Words
• Homophones, Homographs, Nonreversible Word Pairs, Collocations
• Vocabulary Builders
• 20 Most Common Prefixes & Suffixes, More Prefixes & More Suffixes, Synonyms, Antonyms, Greek and Latin Roots, Words with Multiple Meanings
• Content Words
• Books
• Literacy Terms, Old and New Favorite Books to Read Aloud, Award-Winning Children's Books, Predictable Books, Books Without Words, Sounds Awareness Books, Rhyming Books, Books for Word Play, Book Report Alternatives
• Writing
• Descriptive Words, Story Starters, Prompts for Expository Writing, He Said/She Said, Similes, Metaphors, Build a Sentence, Proofreading Checklist, Proofreading Marks
• Teaching Ideas
• Good Ideas for Reading Teachers, Activities for Language Development, Multiple Intelligences and Reading, Interest Inventory, Reading Tips for Parents, Games and Methods for Teaching
• Comprehension
• Comprehension Strategies, Comp Strategies Initializations, Signal Words
• Fluency
• Oral Reading Activities, Sentence Tunes
• Study Skills
• SQR3 Study Guide, Dictionary Skills, Test-Taking Strategies
• Assessment
• Test Words
• Spelling
• Compound Words
• The Internet
• Websites for Reading Instruction, Websites for Writer's and Word Lovers 
• English Language Learners
• Language
• Idioms, Idiomatic Expressions, Basic Sentence Patterns, Irregular Verb Phrases
• Reference
• Word Play
• Hink Pinks, Tongue Twisters, Strange Reading Research 
• Alphabets and Symbols

"The Reading Teacher's Book of Lists should be on the bookshelf of every reading teacher in the English-speaking world! It is a tremendous resource that I have used over and over again throughout my career. The fifth edition is the best yet! It has more useful information than any of the previous editions. You can be assured that I will make good use of Dr. Fry and Dr. Kress's classic book."
—Timothy Rasinski, Ph.D.,professor of education, Kent State University

So, I think you get the gist! This book has everything. This book is an excellent resource book to have on hand for many many reasons! Add it to your professional library today!

Second Language Acquisition: It Takes Time

As a reading specialist in East Oakland, I work primarily with students that are struggling with language acquisition. A lack of English language knowledge tends to be the most common deficit. Secondly, many of my students do not have access to books and do not read often- which continues to keep them back. When my students' knowledge of  English sounds/patterns/words grow (in concert with a toolbox full of learned reading skills), their reading usually takes off. Makes sense, right? Yes, I have several other students that have visual/auditory processing issues- which are different issues (and hard to sort out especially when they are ALSO learning English!). But again, most of my students need intensive and explicit language and vocabulary instruction. It's hard to read and make sense of the words, when you don't know any of the words and their meaning to start with!

I like this snippet from an article on everythingesl.net (a great site, with great resources for esl/el teachers)-

Stages of Second Language Acquisition by Judie Haynes

It takes students from 4-10 years to achieve cognitive academic language proficiency in a second language. Student at this stage will be near-native in their ability to perform in content area learning. Most ELLs at this stage have been exited from ESL and other support programs. At the beginning of this stage, however, they will need continued support from classroom teachers especially in content areas such as history/social studies and in writing. 

Tips for Reading Tutors

My aunt and uncle are literacy heroes (woot, woot) as they have been investing a great deal of their personal time tutoring reading to kids and adults in their local community. I thought it may be helpful for them (and to any other reading tutors out there) to share some tips and links on reading tutoring.

The tutoring experience can be really rewarding to both parties involved. And to make the most it, here some of my ideas:


1) Learn about your student's background. This will help to motivate your student to be engaged in your time together. It may be fairly obvious- but knowing your students interests will help you to know what type of books or reading material to expose them to. Get your student excited about reading and help them find the books that are just right for them!!


2) Learn your student's reading needs. This will help you target your tutoring support to meet your student's needs. While you probably won't give a formal reading assessment on your student, you can tell a lot about someones reading just by having them read to you. Have this checklist in your head as you read with your student (some of this list has been taken from Hopelink) and take stock of his/her biggest areas of need:

An Introduction to Dr. Anita Archer

I am fortunate enough to be attending CORE's (Consortium on Reading Excellence) Leadership Summit this week. After sitting through three meaningful sessions today, I'm motivated and encouraged to become a more effective teacher of reading.

The two sessions spent with Dr. Anita Archer (this is the first time I had heard of her) were particularly riveting. She has a lot of energy, was definitely quirky, and reminded me of best teaching practices (that I sometimes neglect to follow through on!). I'm excited to share with you what I learned about how to best teach reading. Anita focused primarily on explicit instruction, the subject of her new book. The book's website (below), has loads of videos showing Anita demonstrating many of the strategies she talked to us about today. These videos would be very helpful for the new or seasoned teacher, or any coach or school administrator. 

Check out these links about Dr. Anita Archer:
Dr. Anita Archer‘s Strategic Literacy Instruction Video Series
Details about Anita's new book: Explicit Instruction

I gathered sufficient fodder to fuel intriguing blog posts for months to come. I will try to post about all of the teaching strategies that I learn at this conference. In the meantime, I look forward to Day 2 of the Core conference tomorrow- I'm signed up for the RtI (Response to Intervention) track and hope to learn a lot!

From Amazon.com about Anita's book, Explicit Instruction:

Explicit instruction is systematic, direct, engaging, and success oriented--and has been shown to promote achievement for all students. This highly practical and accessible resource gives special and general education teachers the tools to implement explicit instruction in any grade level or content area. The authors are leading experts who provide clear guidelines for identifying key concepts, skills, and routines to teach; designing and delivering effective lessons; and giving students opportunities to practice and master new material. Sample lesson plans, lively examples, and reproducible checklists and teacher worksheets enhance the utility of the volume. Downloadable video clips demonstrating the approach in real classrooms are available at the authors' website: www.explicitinstruction.org.

Read on!

Bedfellows and Pocketbook Companions

Note: The blog has been renamed The Joy of Literacy.


You know you're late to the world of blogging when your blog title is completely obscure and has to be explained. I wanted to start this blog for a number of reasons, so here's a nice tidy list telling you, the public, why:

1. By profession,  I am a Literacy Specialist at a Charter School in East Oakland, CA.  I feel like I am only at the beginning of my journey to becoming the amazingly successful and wise literacy teacher I want to be. This blog is an avenue for me to challenge myself to seek out best methods, interesting articles, helpful resources in the teaching of reading. I am hoping this blog will push me to be a better practitioner of teaching reading.
2. I have a little baby at home I've been blogging about for about a year now. I always want to comment about reading ideas or the state of education, but it doesn't really seems to fit into that blog.
3. Currently I work part-time. This is great because I get some much needed quality time with my little one, but the downside is that I get hardly any collaboration time with my colleagues at work. I thought this blog would be a good place to collaborate and discuss ideas about reading and education with my work peers and teachers from the online community. I'd love my fellow educators to join in dialogue about literacy. What is working in your classrooms? What ideas do you have about literacy? What questions do you have?
4. I am passionate about community literacy. Before I became a literacy specialist I was a middle school teacher, and before that I worked as a Youth Programs Director for a local non-profit organization. There are so many non-school organizations that are doing wonderful literacy work in our communities everyday. I want to delve into what's happening with literacy locally and focus on how we can all work together to make literacy a priority in our communities.

The ultimate goal for any literacy enthusiast, myself included, is for books to become bedfellows and pocketbook companions for anyone and everyone (or in layman's terms: that we all love to read so much that we drag books to the doctor's office or into bed at night to read just a little bit more).  This blog will focus on family literacy, community literacy and the teaching of reading. I hope you'll come along for the journey. Bear with me as the blog is a bit sparse now; I will try to post often.


Read on!